


Operation Paperclip

by biblionerd07



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Cold War, Director of SHIELD Peggy Carter, Early days of SHIELD, Ficlet, Gen, Post-Captain America: The First Avenger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:09:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3401213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biblionerd07/pseuds/biblionerd07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She opens the file and can't help the way her breath catches in her chest as she stares down at Arnim Zola's face.  "No, not him."  The sentence slips out of her, breathless and wavering.  "I will not allow Arnim Zola in my organization."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Operation Paperclip

**Author's Note:**

> So, in CA:TWS we find out that Zola got into SHIELD through Operation Paperclip, a real US program that brought scientists and engineers from Germany/other countries to the US mainly to keep them away from Russia. I just really wanted to see how that worked out, since I don't see Peggy being thrilled with the idea, knowing what Zola's done. I'm not entirely sure how it would all play out in terms of timeline--Operation Paperclip started right when WWII ended, but so far in the MCU we don't have SHIELD set up yet--so maybe take that with a grain of salt.

“Ma’am, you’ve got to sign off on these scientists,” Peggy’s secretary reminds her as Agent Wilson, the liaison between the newly-formed SHIELD and the Joint Intelligence Committee, rushes into her office. Peggy resists the urge to rub her temples. Agent Wilson has quite a sense of self-importance, and he often ignores poor Elizabeth unless Peggy’s in a meeting and he actually has to schedule an appointment. Peggy had hoped she wouldn’t have to deal with these kinds of men anymore, but apparently they never of out of fashion.

“One more,” he tells her. “The President’s just assigned us one more. Apparently this guy has a history with the SSR.” He hands Peggy a file, completely disregarding the stack Elizabeth is already holding, and Peggy narrows her eyes a little. Elizabeth gives her a little smile, to show she’s not overly offended, and it mollifies Peggy somewhat.

She opens the file and can’t help the way her breath catches in her chest as she stares down into Arnim Zola’s face. She can’t tamp down the memories of Barnes when the group first got back, the way he shied away from the medical tent with wide, terrified eyes, the way his hands shook slightly late at night until he clenched them around the barrel of his rifle, the way he smiled until he thought everyone stopped looking and then let his eyes drift out of focus and his mouth turn down.

And then, of course, her mind supplies the image of Steve in that shell of the London pub, puffy-eyed and sniffling, vowing to kill the way he never had before. She wonders sometimes, in the middle of the night when she can’t sleep, what he would have chosen, given the choice between stopping Schmidt or killing Zola. She thinks she knows, but she’s never completely sure in the dark.

“No, not him.” The sentence slips out of her breathlessly, wavering, as she sees Barnes flinching away from the needle in a nurse’s hand and hears the hollow sound of Steve’s laugh when he told her he couldn’t get drunk.

“I beg your pardon?” Wilson says, affronted. “This assignment came from Eisenhower himself. The intel this man could provi—”

“I will not allow Arnim Zola in my organization,” Peggy snaps, and in her ear Steve’s voice is breaking as he blames himself.

“Agent Carter—” Wilson tries to speak again.

“It is _Director_ Carter,” Peggy corrects before snapping an abrupt about-face and striding away. Her hands are starting to tremble ever so slightly and she needs to get away.

“You can schedule an appointment,” she hears Elizabeth say firmly. “Director Carter has other matters to attend to just now.”

She goes to the women’s toilets and holds her head in her hands for five full minutes, thinking of the way Steve’s voice cut out over the radio, remembering the sneer on Arnim Zola’s face as Phillips told him he’d cost them Captain America’s best friend. The thought of Zola as a SHIELD scientist turns her stomach. They named the agency for Steve; they can’t let that man carry the name.

_But._

There is always a _but_ these days, a compromise to be made. But the order came from the President. But the objective is to keep these scientists, for whom loyalty follows the funding they seek, out of the hands of the Russians. But she is the director of SHIELD now. Howard has all but bowed out and Phillips died; she is the head of this agency and directors don’t get to let emotions steer their decisions.

Peggy touches up her lipstick and returns to her office. She shoves Steve’s voice out of her mind as she signs the paperwork to allow that wolf—not even dressed in sheep’s clothing; she knows exactly what he is—to work for SHIELD. She drops it on Wilson’s desk without a word and goes back to her office to catch up on mission reports.

Steve is dead and HYDRA is defeated. The only thing to do is move forward.


End file.
